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A most notable defense

Douglas Schuda | Thursday, December 10, 2009

Ah, the global warming debate: perhaps the most infamous and noble human struggle of the last century. It saddens me that so many people argue about the climate, using random facts which only jumble up any sense that can be made from such a pivotal, nay, transcendent issue. I personally would never subject myself to baseless, meaningless debate with other articles. Actually, never mind. Here goes:

Oh my gosh. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (sounds illustrious, doesn’t it?) says that a bunch of carbon dioxide is being emitted into the atmosphere? I see. Explain to me how CO2, which plants metabolize to make oxygen, is harmful. The real blame could be on the billions of organisms who continue to fly in the face of the environment and breathe 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Shame on all of us for perpetuating this horrendous act.

Mr. Kobeski (“Let’s approach climate change,” Dec. 8): I don’t know you read your “sources” yourself.No citations, just opinion. We must be enlightened by not only your piercing truth, but also the sources you got these opinions from. For our sake (and for decent journalism), please cite something.

Now, which foreign, somewhat unknown organization should I use for my position? Hmmm … how about NASA? An article from the July 1, 2008 Wall Street Journal states “NASA … confirms that the hottest year on record was not 1998, as previously believed, but 1934, and that six of the 10 hottest years since 1880 antedate 1954. Data show there has been slight cooling in the past five years.” The article also cites that “The Arctic ice cap may be thinning, but the extent of Antarctic sea ice has been expanding for years. At least as of February, last winter was the Northern Hemisphere’s coldest in decades.” Furthermore, the forecast for the world’s temperature is that it will begin rising again in 2020. The world’s climate is cyclical. (We’re doomed.)

Finally, a recent article written on Dec. 7, for “The Space Review” notes that “NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has long been resisting disclosing its data following a U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a well-known skeptic.”

Why should NASA protect its statistics concerning global warming, for any reason? The answer is that this issue is a political game, nothing else.